Families and Households - Couples Flashcards
What does the domestic division of labour refer to?
Roles men and women play in housework, childcare, and paid work.
Who identified the instrumental and expressive roles in the family?
Parsons (1955).
What is the instrumental role in the family?
The male breadwinner.
What is the expressive role in the family?
The female caregiver.
What do feminists argue about the functionalist view of family roles?
It is not ‘natural’ and primarily benefits men.
What is the New Right’s view on the biological division of labour?
They agree with Parsons that it is the best way to organize family life.
What does the March of Progress view suggest about conjugal roles?
Conjugal roles are becoming more equal in modern society.
What are the two types of conjugal roles identified by Bott (1957)?
- Segregated conjugal roles
- Joint conjugal roles.
What is the Symmetrical family according to Young and Willmott (1973)?
A family where roles are more equal, with both partners sharing domestic tasks and leisure.
What major social changes contributed to the trend towards symmetrical families?
- High living standards
- Labour-saving devices
- Better housing
- Women working
- Smaller families.
What is Oakley’s (1974) argument regarding symmetry in family roles?
There is no evidence of symmetry; men’s contributions are exaggerated.
What is the dual burden that feminists argue women face?
Paid work and domestic work.
According to the British Social Attitudes Survey 2013, how much more domestic work do women do compared to men?
Women do twice as much domestic work.
What is the Triple Shift according to Duncombe and Marsden (1995)?
The combination of emotion work, domestic labour, and paid work.
What is the cultural or ideological explanation for the gender division of labour?
Patriarchal cultural norms shape gender roles, leading women to perform more domestic labour.
